Shredded R888???

[scrob]

Guys, I just used my R888 tyres at kirkistown for the first time.

I drove 5x 15 minute sessions and swapped the tyres from front to back in the middle of the day.

Apart from heat bubbling and deposits on the surface, the actual treads stood up quite well and didn't wear too badly.

HOWEVER

I noticed this lovely 4" strip of rubber which completely tore away from the shoulder of the front left tyre



Is this "normal"? There is a 1" crack in another part of the shoulder of the tyre but apart from that they are absolutely fine with piles of tread left and the shoulders/edge of the tyre is absolutely fine. Surely this is a manufacturing fault and the rubber shouldn't have torn away to expose the canvas underneath?!

Comments below please...

Ps car is a 306 Rallye

[H.7]

What tyre pressures were you running?

[Wh00sher]

did you clip something? a big kerb for example ?

[scrob]

No I didn't hit anything unusual, I ran the kerbs just like everyone else but they are smooth with no big ruts and certainly didn't feel like I hit anything.

Tyre pressure was possibly a bit on the high side, thought I had them down but was 37psi in that tyre when I got in.

[frodo_monkey]

Presume they are 15"?

Pressure quite a bit too high IMHO, I used to run 30psi hot in my race 205...

[Guillotine]

i'd stay at 30 hot too.

does look like you ran over something, from the shoulder pattern.

[scrob]

Yep 195/50/15

Yeah I agree pressure was a bit high, had dropped it to 30 after a run earlier in the day but guess I must have been pushing a LOT harder come the end of the day, should really get into the habit of checking them after every session now.

Still, didn't expect to see a huge tear from the sidewall!

[LordGrover]

Surely that looks like something was hit?

[scrob]

OK, so maybe I wasn't telling the whole truth :P













Hehe

Didn't actually notice the rubber hanging off until the last session, think the above may be the culprit!

Edited by scrob on Monday 16th March 09:18

[Munter]

How did you store them over the winter? http://marktg.toyotires.com/file/TireStorage.pdf

But yes you do appear to have given them some undesireable stress there.

[scrob]

Stored in the house at room temperature, there's a sticker on each tyre to say that they shouldn't be stored below 0deg...

[Wh00sher]

LordGrover said:

Surely that looks like something was hit?

That what I thought.

Now we have more info, I`d guess it happened during the `spin`

[Porkie]

If someone reads JUST your first post they are going to start spreading around that R888's are st blah blah blah...

Fact is you hit something AND you had the pressure ways to high!!!!

I know you were just having a laugh but this one way ailly rumours start if you ask me!

[Billy_rfc]

I've seen this once before on a friends car on different rubber caused by him driving like an idiot. Hairpin bend in second with foot to the floor, mega understeer and two turns of lock on the steering managed to strip the rubber of a front tyre like that.

Now not saying anyone here drives like that but....this is how my friend did it.

[scrob]

What do you guys recommend for HOT pressure? As I say I dropped it to 30 HOT straight after my first session and then didn't really check them again until I saw that damage after the 5th session and they were back up at 37 due to driving like a maniac as the day went on.

Learning curve, it's only my 2nd trackday and I had a ball, don't really mind binning one tyre!

[scrob]

Porkie said:

If someone reads JUST your first post they are going to start spreading around that R888's are st blah blah blah...

Fact is you hit something AND you had the pressure ways to high!!!!

I know you were just having a laugh but this one way ailly rumours start if you ask me!

To be fair that spin happened during the day yesterday and I only noticed the tyre at the end. At the time I thought it had obviously happened on the last session but after posting this thread and seeing the pics of my spin posted on another forum, I've come to the conclusion that it must be the reason for it. The spin didn't really feel harsh at all in the car but the photos tell a different story..

Moral of the story, check tyres after EVERY session

Edited by scrob on Monday 16th March 13:33

[Munter]

scrob said:

Porkie said:

If someone reads JUST your first post they are going to start spreading around that R888's are st blah blah blah...

Fact is you hit something AND you had the pressure ways to high!!!!

I know you were just having a laugh but this one way ailly rumours start if you ask me!

To be fair that spin happened during the day yesterday and I only noticed the tyre at the end. At the time I thought it had obviously happened on the last session but after posting this thread and seeing the pics of my spin posted on another forum, I've come to the conclusion that it must be the reason for it. The spin didn't really feel harsh at all in the car but the photos tell a different story..

Moral of the story, check tyres after EVERY session

Edited by scrob on Monday 16th March 13:33

Definately after a spin involving the optional green part of the track. My guess is that when the tyre dropped off the back of the kerb it did the damage. Particularly if you were still on the throttle and the wheel was spinning under power.

Some Trackday organiser said:

If you spin. Come in.

And check your car over